The City of Reno website has a link for its Reno Public Art Master Plan Update, which includes a vision for what could be done over the next decade, a call for bigger budgets and proposing to dissolve the city’s public art committee.
There are also seemingly contradictory statements. One one hand, the plan mentions that “artists don’t always see clear opportunities to connect with the public art program.”
However, it then goes on to say it wants to streamline processes for artist selections for different programs, including using “pre-qualified artist lists (rosters) when appropriate to simplify artist selection processes” which would seem to exclude new artists wanting to participate, and hint toward ongoing favoritism, a common complaint.
The plan developed by a consulting team led by Todd Bressi, known for his work in Philadelphia, calls for a Think Big approach to “launch a signature project or initiative that will capture the imagination of the entire city.”
It further details a major piece or project could explore “Reno’s relationship to light”, or that we could have a super-large mural or a multi-year Truckee River art project.
Its Vision for Public Art in Reno section uses the controversial Seven Magic Mountains, commissioned by the Nevada Museum of Art as its cover with its lease south of Las Vegas up in 2026, and costly move to our region recently under debate at the county commission level.
A how we get there section calls for expanded art budgeting, and a restructuring “by dissolving the Public Art Committee and assigning some of its duties to the RACC [Reno Arts and Culture Commission] and some to ad hoc “Task Forces” (expanded selection committees) that are established for each public art project or program. In this approach, the function of the RACC would generally be strengthened and expanded. The RACC duties would include recommending Annual Work Plans, recommending the appointment of members of Task Forces, recommending the approval of project plans, and recommending artist selections and concept approvals.”
On the City of Reno website it indicates “the purpose of the Public Art Committee is to express in a visible way the pride in and commitment to the arts by the City of Reno, and to share that attitude among all its citizens and visitors.”
Other big picture questions include whether these programs are meant to boost local artists over outside ones, and whether these create artwashing and high speed gentrification, whereby the paid artists themselves are priced out of areas they helped beautify.
The City Council is expected to review the plan in the coming months.